Disasters in the Age of Discovery

<p>The dawn of the age of European exploration in the 16th century was absurdly dangerous. Crews on the ships of Christopher Columbus, Vasco De Gama and Ferdinand Magellan often sailed blind into uncharted waters, battling hurricanes and deadly reefs. With crude navigation tools, rotting food, and disease-ridden ships, survival was never guaranteed. Crews were pushed to their limits—physically, mentally, and morally. Some were deceived into the journey, and others driven by blind hope.</p><br><p>In this episode, Dan is joined by Simon Parker, an associate professor in Medieval and Renaissance Portuguese at the University of Oxford, to tell some of the stories of extraordinary failure and disaster in the age of discovery.</p><br><p>His new book is called Wreckers: Disaster in the Age of Discovery</p><br><p>Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore</p><br><p>Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at <a href="https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe</u></a>.</p><br><p>We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: <a href="https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on</a>.</p><br><p>You can also email the podcast directly at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[email protected]</a>.</p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>